Generally, the present invention relates to radio communication devices, and more particularly to radio communication devices having functional icons associated with stored directory number.
Today, radio communication devices provide radio communication services such as two-way radio service, radiotelephone service, cellular phone service, cordless phone service and wireless data communication services such as wireless facsimile (fax), electronic mail (e-mail), and short message service.
These services are generally packaged individually into single radio communication devices, such as a traditional radiotelephone. When packaged as individual devices, these radio communication devices are relatively easy to use.
However, there is increasing pressure in the marketplace to provide multi-functional radio communication devices that offer more than one of the typical radio communication services mentioned above. Attempting to combine such radio communication services into a single radio communication device creates a cumbersome and undesirable user interface that is undesired by potential customers. A typical user interface includes a speaker, a microphone, a display and a data input device such as a keypad. For some radio communication services, a small display and a small data input area is required. For example, in a portable radiotelephone often there is a small display and a fixed data input keypad. On the other hand, a wireless data service such as e-mail requires extensive display of received messages as well as extensive user data input from either a pen or a keyboard.
In an integrated radio communication device that combines a radiotelephone and an e-mail or facsimile service, the simpler user interface of the radiotelephone service would not satisfy the requirements of a complex user interface required for the services. In particular, multiple numbers may be stored with a particular entry in a phone directory. For example, an individual or business may have one or more numbers associated with a telephone, a fax machine, e-mail or short messaging service (SMS). Thus, it would be advantageous to provide an integrated data communication device having icons associated with certain directory numbers for more convenient operation by the user.